Flash light detection and ranging (also referred to herein as “flash LIDAR”) systems and methods are known that employ an illumination source to direct pulsed beams of light toward a target object within a field-of-view, and a light detector array to receive light reflected from the target object. For each pulsed beam of light directed toward the target object, the light detector array can receive reflected light corresponding to a frame of data. Further, using one or more frames of data, the range or distance to the target object can be obtained by determining the elapsed time between transmission of the pulsed beam of light by the illumination source and reception of the reflected light at the light detector array. Such flash LIDAR systems and methods have been employed in numerous and diverse automotive, industrial, and military applications.
A conventional flash LIDAR system can include an illumination source, a light detector array, and a controller. The illumination source can include a single illuminator (e.g., a laser) or an array of illuminators, and the light detector array can include an array of pixel receiver elements (e.g., photodiodes). In a typical mode of operation, the controller can operate the illumination source to produce one or more pulsed beams of light, and steer the pulsed beams of light in one or more directions in order to illuminate a field-of-view having a target object disposed therein. For example, the controller may steer the pulsed beams of light by moving the illuminator or the array of illuminators. Alternatively, the flash LIDAR system may include a moveable mirror, and the controller may move the mirror in order to sweep the pulsed beams of light produced by the illuminator(s) across the field-of-view in raster scan fashion. The flash LIDAR system may alternatively be configured to include a multiplicity of linearly arranged illuminator/light detector pairs, and the controller may rotate the illuminator/light detector pair arrangement up to 360 degrees in order to illuminate the field of view and receive light reflected from the target object. While illuminating the field-of-view and receiving the reflected light, the flash LIDAR system can obtain a frame of data for each pulsed beam of light produced by the illumination source, and, using the frames of data, determine range information pertaining to the distance to the target object.